Luka Modric has stated that Croatia “don’t mind being dark horses” in the 2024 European Championship despite punching above their weight in previous international tournaments.
Zlatko Dalic’s side kickstart their Euro journey against Spain at Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday, seeking to reach the knockout stage of a major tournament for a fifth successive time.
After reaching the FIFA World Cup final in 2018, and then finishing third in Qatar two years ago, Croatia have not yet been widely acclaimed to be in the same bracket as the likes of France, England, Portugal and Germany as favourites.
This is something Modric is satisfied with as he insists the team must show their unity and seize the chance to do something big.
“Being the dark horses, we don’t mind about that,” Modric shared his sentiments in a pre-match press conference.
“Everyone else being the favourites, us being the dark horses, we’re used to that. We have to show our unity.
“We’re here to make a big result. I think we’ve shown in last the few years we belong at the top of European football.
“In these championships we’ve missed the last step to make a really good result. I hope we can do that at this tournament and really do something big.”
Ending the season with his sixth Champions League title with Real Madrid earlier this month, Modric will be playing in his ninth major international tournament.
The 38-year-old midfielder made his debut at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and was an unused substitute in Croatia’s opening game of that competition, a 1-0 loss to Brazil at the Olympiastadion.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” he added.
“But I’ve always said if someone gave me a piece of paper and said ‘Write down what you want to achieve in your career’, I definitely would’ve been afraid to write all this down. I didn’t expect all this to happen.
“After all these years, though, here I am.
“I remember 2006, it was a phenomenal atmosphere in this stadium. I hope this will be the case tomorrow and on the pitch we’ll give a lot to our supporters to be joyful about.”
